Hatchetfield Stories

Come Home

Paul: *mentions rollercoasters once*
Me, who hyperfixates on rollercoasters, getting ready to project my entire hyperfixation onto him

Also I will never get over the fact that Bill and Alice are just able to undo their seatbelts in a fucking rollercoaster??? Like I get that Watcher World is a sketchy place but that should NOT be possible

TRIGGER WARNINGS:
-Blood
-Death

-------

Emma smiled as she listened to Paul talk when they walked through the huge gates of Watcher World.

"-and someone died on the Tear-Jerker, but they had a heart condition so there's no need to worry. But that just proves how thrilling it is!"

Emma laughed. "Fuckin' dork," she teased, grabbing his arm.

"It's the tallest rollercoaster in the Midwest, Emma!"

"Well, let's go ride it, then!"

It wasn't busy in the park, seeing it was a Thursday. Both of them had taken the day off work, and decided to finally visit Watcher World again, something neither of them had done since they were kids.

Paul beamed with excitement as they walked to the other side of the park, where the Tear-Jerker was situated. Emma smiled as her dork boyfriend continued to talk about the technical aspects of the Tear-Jerker and the other rollercoasters in Watcher World.

"-because when I looked it up, I found out there have been so many unexplainable deaths in Watcher World, especially the past couple of years."

The thought sent chills down Emma's spine, or maybe it was the air that suddenly seemed to be dropping in temperature. Clouds moved in front of the sun, casting a shadow over the amusement park, and in the distance, someone screamed.

Emma laughed nervously. "That was... disturbingly on cue."

"Looks like it might rain, but let's not let it ruin our day," Paul said, taking her hand. "Come on, let's go."

Emma smiled as he led her to the waiting line of the Tear-Jerker.

It didn't take long before they walked onto the loading platform, and stepped into the vehicle. After the seatbelts had come down and they were safely buckled in, Paul grabbed Emma's hand and squeezed softly. "You ready?" he asked as they rolled onto the track and the vehicle got pulled up the first hill.

A few raindrops fell from the sky, and they weren't even halfway up the hill before it was raining.

After that, it didn't take long before the train came to a stop.

"Uh-oh, boys and girls!" an announcer's voice crackled through the speakers lined next to the track. "Blinky's spotted some commotion down the track a-ways. Y'all sit tight while we work out them snooks."

So, for a moment, they sat there while rain poured down on them, before one of the employees came walking up the stairs. "Alright, people, your seatbelts will come undone shortly, and I need you to step out of the vehicle and walk down the stairs. Understood?"

The passengers hummed in agreement, though Emma could hear a little kid behind her cry, the mother shushing her child.

The seatbelts came undone moments later, and Paul, being the closest to the stairs, got out first, giving Emma a hand to help her step out of the vehicle.

The rollercoaster creaked as they walked down, and the rain made the steps slippery. Paul slipped, taking Emma with him as he tumbled down the stairs.

Taking down the other riders in front of them like they were bowling pins, they went down, until they eventually came to a stop, a pile of humans on the stairs of the Tear-Jerker.

Most people got up immediately, walking down the last few steps, a little more cautious.

Paul, of course, being the gentleman he is, first turned to Emma. "You okay?"

"You almost got us killed!"

"Emma? We're safe now, and no one was hurt, what are you-" He got cut off by Emma swinging a punch at him. "Woah, Em!"

"I thought I'd die in fucking Hatchetfield!" Emma yelled. "I'm not supposed to be here! I was supposed to go back to Guatemala, but of course you had to come along and make me stay in this goddamn town!"

"Emma, calm down, sweetheart."

"Oh, I'm calm!" she yelled, definitely not calm. Her eyes were bright purple, but Paul didn't seem to notice, too busy dodging her as she tried to attack him.

It went on like that for a while, Paul tried to calm her, but had no choice but to back away, through the station, and back into the park. Boiling rage filled Emma; deep down she was yelling at herself to stop, but she just couldn't.

From the ground, she picked up a tree branch, which was weird, because there were no trees around, but she didn't care, knocking Paul over the head with it.

Blood sprayed from his nose, and he got knocked to the ground, looking up at her, terror and confusion clear in his eyes as she raised the branch. "Thank you for ruining my life," she spat, bringing the branch down. Once, twice, three times, and one particularly nasty hit to his head and he was knocked out cold.

Emma laughed, towering over his limp body, and started kicking. His head was bleeding, and blood poured from his nose. She didn't stop until she was sure he was gone.

And then, for a brief moment, there was silence.

A few seconds of silence as she realized what she'd done.

Emma felt numb as she stared at the blood staining her hands, tears stinging in her eyes, which weren't purple anymore. "P-Paul?" she stammered. Oh god, what had she done?

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she dropped to her knees, hugging the corpse of her lover. They just wanted a fun day off work, not whatever just happened.

"Paul, I'm sorry..." she sobbed. "I'm so sorry..." She was so busy hugging the corpse of the man she loved, that she didn't notice the mascot of the park, coming closer.

"That was a good show, Emma," Blinky said, towering over her. "I do love a good dramatic ending."

"You," Emma breathed, looking up at the mascot. "You did this."

"Uh-uh-uh," Blinky said, wagging his finger. "You did this, Emma. You killed him." He laughed as Emma sobbed louder, pulling Paul's body closer.

Emma grabbed the stick and threw it at him, hitting him in his gigantic eye. He yelled in pain, and came lurching forward, throwing himself onto Emma.

Emma struggled, but the mascot suit was heavy and big. She could barely breathe, and the fact that she was hyperventilating didn't help either, so it didn't take long before everything went black.

*** *** ***

Emma woke up in their apartment that evening, with no memory of anything that happened that day.

So, she did what she did every evening: she brewed some coffee, and waited for Paul to come home.

Not that he ever would.